1. Technical Field
This invention relates to lawn mowers, and more particularly to an improved handle-to-deck coupling arrangement for securing a handle of a lawn mower to a deck of the mower in a manner which does not require the drilling of holes through the handle member, and which further spreads the forces experienced by the deck as the handle member is pushed down or lifted by the operator more evenly over a larger area of the deck, to thereby relieve stress on the deck during use.
2. Discussion
Vegetation cutters, such as lawn mowers, typically include some form of handle member which projects outwardly and upwardly from a deck portion of the mower for enabling an operator to push and steer the mower, as well as allowing the operator to lift a portion of the deck off the ground by pushing down on the handle member such as performed when making extremely sharp turns with the mower. The handle member typically extends outwardly from a rear portion of the deck by several feet, such that an individual walking behind the mower does not have to stoop or bend over while pushing and steering the mower.
Prior developed handle assemblies have typically involved securing the distal ends of the handle to a rear portion of the deck. The handle is usually formed from a single section of tubing, with each distal end secured to the deck usually by a pair of threaded fasteners. When the operator pushes down or lifts up on the handle member, the threaded fasteners, and a portion of the deck immediately adjacent the threaded fasteners, typically absorbs the full stress imparted by the distal ends of the handle member. Accordingly, the stress experienced by the deck is localized to a pair of very small areas. While this arrangement has proven satisfactory in some instances, in some situations, such as where the operator is required to push down or lift repeatedly with the handle during mowing, unacceptably high levels of stress can be imparted to the deck, thereby weakening portions thereof. Since deck assemblies are increasingly being manufactured from materials such as high strength plastic which, while providing generally excellent strength, is still not as strong as steel, the need for somehow alleviating or spreading out the stress experienced by the deck over a larger area has become an important consideration in the design of lawn mower handle systems.
From a manufacturing standpoint, most prior developed handle systems which incorporate a pair of threaded fasteners at each distal end of the handle member present the added drawback of increased manufacturing cost and complexity. This is because multiple holes require precision drilling or forming techniques, and add cost due to extra components and added assembly time. Accordingly, the overall cost of manufacture is increased at least slightly by the need to have precisely placed or located holes drilled or formed into the distal ends of the handle member.
The assignee of the present application, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,568, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application, has developed a collecting box for a garden tool in which a distal end of a tubular frame member is inserted within an opening in the body of the tool. While this arrangement has been found to be quite effective in spreading the stress experienced by the body of the tool over a greater surface area of the tool, it would nevertheless be highly desirable to improve even further upon the handle coupling arrangement disclosed in this patent. More specifically, it would be desirable to spread out the forces experienced by the deck over an even larger area and to provide the means for coupling the distal end of a handle member to the deck without requiring any holes or fasteners through the distal end.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved handle-to-deck coupling arrangement in which a tubular handle member of a lawn mower or other like vegetation cutter can be quickly, easily and conveniently coupled to a deck of the mower in a manner not requiring any threaded fasteners to be positioned to extend through the distal ends of the handle member. It is a further object to provide a coupling arrangement without using one or more threaded fasteners which extend through the distal ends of the handle member itself.
More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a deck for a lawn mower and a handle member having a pair of distal ends, where the deck includes a pair of gradually curving channel portions adapted to receive the distal ends of the handle member, and wherein a pair of sockets are employed in the deck to receive the outer-most distal ends of the handle member therein.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an anchor-type fastening assembly in communication with each of the channels which are adapted to matingly engage with the outermost distal ends of a handle member, and which can be clamped to the outer-most distal ends. Even more specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved handle-to-deck coupling arrangement which secures a tubular handle member to a deck of the mower in a manner which does not require any holes to be drilled or formed through the distal ends of the handle member.